It's Not Unbreakable
by SanityWithAddedLemons
Summary: John gets a new girlfriend. Sherlock assumes she'll be just like the rest of them, but this is one occasion where he's got it completely wrong. Post-Recheinbach, I guess. Not Johnlock.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: _Sherlock_ does not belong to me and that is probably a good thing.**

It was midnight, and Sherlock was holding his violin and waiting for John. John had left quite a few hours earlier, for yet another date. Sherlock didn't know what the woman was called and didn't care. She was just another boring, average, uninteresting woman who John would go on a date (or maybe two, or three, or even four) with before she gave up on him. John might moan about Sherlock ruining his relationships, but Sherlock didn't believe he was the reason for their failure. Well, maybe a bit, but only indirectly. The real reason John never maintained a relationship was because he couldn't commit to one; he was too pre-occupied following Sherlock. Willingly, of course. It wasn't Sherlock's fault, although if he was honest he'd have to admit he quite liked having John as an assistant. A companion. A friend. Actually, John was his only real friend. Or at least the only person Sherlock counted as a friend. Sherlock wasn't concerned about that because he had no reason to believe one friend was not enough. He wasn't exactly big on social groups, so the relationship he had with John was perfect. They were happy as they were, and no 'date' was going to change that. None of them ever lasted more than a few hours. They were unfortunate inconveniences, nothing more.

That was the reason why Sherlock was just a bit anxious. It was much later than the time John normally- no, always -returned from dates. He never took more than a few hours, it just didn't happen. Scowling, Sherlock ran his fingers over the strings on his violin. There was a painfully sharp 'twang' as he plucked the violin strings harder than any manufacturer had intended. Leaving the string to still on it's own, he set the violin down on the table next to him, restlessly shifting in his chair. Despite himself, he was feeling tired. He had after all been up since 5:00 that morning and annoying though it was, he needed sleep. But if John's date wasn't causing his absence, what was? Sherlock was fairly confident in John's ability to deal with difficult situations, but it was midnight, and he wasn't back. Spotting his phone, abandoned on the floor on the opposite side of the room where he had thrown it after a frustrating conversation with a D.I. who refused to listen to his (correct) ideas, Sherlock decided to text John. He strode over and stooped, grabbed and lifted in one smooth movement. Unlocking the phone, he tapped out his message to John.

Where are you? Not bored to death by your date I hope? -SH

There. Sent it. Now there was nothing to do while he waited for a reply. Picking up his violin again, he began pacing. He considered trying to play a full piece, but he had a feeling his bow was buried under science papers and case notes, and anyway it desperately needed more rosin and Sherlock really didn't have time for that right now. He played a short pizzicato piece and then returned to absently plucking strings, still pacing. After more than quarter of an hour- longer than John normally took to reply- Sherlock's phone beeped.

No. It's going well, actually. Not that you'd care. -JW

Sherlock frowned. The text was brief and gave almost no information. Well, it did explain where John was, sort of. Still on his date. That was…unusual. A one-off. What date could possibly take this long? Trying to puzzle it out, Sherlock attempted to remember John's most recent girlfriend. Kim, wasn't it? Strange, because John's last date with her had barely lasted an hour. He decided to text John again.

So well you're still out at 12:30? Really, John. Even I'm getting tired. Are you sure she's not just talking too much? -SH

Sent. More pacing. More thinking. Then a text, after only a few minutes –could be promising.

I'm sure. Go to bed, Sherlock. You need it and I won't be back for a while. -JW

Now that was surprising. What could possibly be happening to make John stay out this late? Sherlock tried to work it out but his sleep-deprived brain was starting to fail him. Irritating as it was, John was right. He did need sleep. Reluctantly, he replaced the violin on the table and headed to his room to go to bed, making sure to text John again before he went to sleep; he couldn't let John feel that he'd won.

I do not need sleep, but since you're taking so long I may as well get it. -SH

John, receiving the message, smiled at his flatmate's attempt at denial and sent a final message;

Night to you too, Sherlock. -JW

**First, thanks for reading! Seriously, thank-you. Sorry it's short (and probably not very good either), but I didn't really want to put any more plot in the first chapter, so this is how it ended up. Yes, this is going to be a multi-chapter fic. I'm not sure how many chapters yet -at least 4, but it might be a lot more. I don't know. The next chapter should be up some time in the next few days, if anyone liked this enough to want to read it. **

**Sw.A.L. x**


	2. Chapter 2

Sherlock woke at his normal time the next morning. He woke at the faintest hint of light, which didn't concern him, as sleep had never been something Sherlock was concerned with. What was concerning him slightly though was John's behaviour the previous night. He shoved the concern away, mentally blocking it; John would be back now, almost certainly asleep, and the date wasn't anything to worry about. Even if John had enjoyed it, it was still unlikely the relationship would continue past a fifth date.

Sherlock strode gracefully into the kitchen, certain that John's late return last night would at least give him some time to finish his latest experiment without disturbance. The figure sitting calmly at the table stopped him. Sherlock didn't know exactly what time John had finally finished his seemingly never-ending date last night, but he knew that if John went to bed after midnight he got up later than usual. Last night he definitely hadn't got home before midnight, so why was he up so early? Also, why was he smiling?

The smile disappeared as John noticed Sherlock. Sherlock ignored this and grabbed a piece of toast from the plateful John had made. There was butter on the table, but Sherlock didn't bother to use it. It was a waste of time; humans need food, but butter is not a necessity.

John decided to acknowledge Sherlock's existence, as Sherlock didn't seem to have any intention of starting a conversation.

"Morning."

Sherlock carefully nodded his head in return. Well, really. That wasn't an imaginative or interesting enough greeting to deserve an answer.

Two minutes later Sherlock was regretting his decision. To him, the near-silence they were eating in seemed hostile and uncomfortable. He was waiting for an explanation of John's unusual sleeping times but didn't want to give in by asking for one. After a few minutes, though, he realised he was going to have to; John didn't even seem to have noticed the silence, or if he had it didn't bother him. He was just staring at his mobile, on the table by his plate…oh. Of course. If someone stares at a phone, it is nearly always because they are expecting a call or a text. So John must be expecting someone to contact him. This was not normal behaviour for John, so there must be some change that had caused it. Some change that had happened recently. Well, it was obvious really. The only explanation Sherlock could come up with for John's sudden interest in his phone screen was that he was waiting for a call from the woman he had his date with yesterday. Well, that wasn't quite true. Sherlock also had three other ideas, but none of them had a likelihood of more than 0.01, so he was going to go with the date idea.

"Why don't you call her?"

John glanced up, the puzzled expression that had appeared on his face relaxing as he realised he had yet again been the victim of one of Sherlock's deductions.

"She said she'd call me. I trust her, and anyway she might still be asleep."

"Don't."

"What?"

"Don't trust her. She's been lying to you about her financial situation. It's obvious, really; her dress was new and looked expensive, but actually it's a copy of a more expensive brand and she won't have spent more than £20 on it. Her coat was the same, but her planning obviously hadn't extended to her shoes, as they were at least 5 years old. She probably thought no one would notice. And her jewelry-"

"What? Sherlock, you've never met her. And she wasn't even wearing a dress."

"Maybe not last night, but she was at that stupid party you dragged me along to last week. I can assure you, she is not trustworthy. I'd recommend breaking up with her."

John almost smiled; he enjoyed the rare occasions when Sherlock got something wrong.

"I did."

"What?"

"You're talking about Kim and you're right, she was awful. That's why I dumped her last week and went on a date with a different, much nicer woman last night. If you actually listened to me sometimes, you'd have known that because I've told you her name at least twice."

Oh. Sherlock started to frown, then stopped himself because John was watching. That solved the problem of the variance in the length of John's dates with 'Zoe' then. This was a different woman. Mentally, Sherlock made a 'note to self'- sometimes it is beneficial to listen to John talking about his dates. If it doesn't interfere with something more important, try to do it more often.

"I was occupied with more important things than women's names, John. There's no point remembering their names anyway; you never stay with the same person for more than a month."

"Not this time. She's different…" John stopped talking, his words lost in the smile that had returned to his face.

Sherlock noted this in silence and picked up another piece of toast; he had forgotten to eat last night. So, John's new girlfriend. If that smile was anything to go by he was pretty serious about her. This was…worrying. While John always showed an interest in his girlfriends, he normally just treated them as what they ended up being- the next in a long line of women who were frankly almost indistinguishable from one another. He made another 'note to self'- he should find out what was different about this new woman and investigate whether it could interfere with John's reliable assistance in his work.

John's phone rang. Sherlock rolled his eyes and stood up from the worktop where he had been perched like an oversized bird. To John, he would have appeared completely unruffled by the phone call, but as John lifted the phone to his ear Sherlock couldn't resist glancing at the caller ID; it said, simply, 'Mary.'

**Here's chapter 2! Thanks for reading this far and especially thanks to people who have reviewed or alerted. Yes, the last sentence of this chapter was a massive plot give away. It doesn't tell you the whole plot, but I think you can guess where this is going...anyway. Chapter 3 should be up soon-ish, but I haven't actually finished writing it yet so I don't know when exactly. It should be done by friday, or earlier if I have time.**

**Sw.A.L. x**


	3. Chapter 3

Sherlock was aware that privacy was something John cared about, so he knew John probably wouldn't want him to listen to his phone call with Mary. Unfortunately for John, privacy wasn't something Sherlock cared about and Sherlock didn't tend to put other people's concerns before his own. Immediately after leaving the kitchen, he spun in a circle so he was standing against the wall by the door. Resting his head and upper back against the wall, he steepled his fingers under his chin and focused in on John's phone conversation. He needed to deduce everything he could about 'Mary'.

"Really good actually."

Obviously she had just asked how he was. And he was being much more enthusiastic in his answer than necessary. After the amount of sleep he'd had, Sherlock would be surprised if John was even feeling 'ok', so he doubted 'really good' was an accurate description. Anyway. John was speaking again.

"No, don't worry! I enjoyed it…yeah, that would be great…no, I can't do Tuesday. No, not 'cos of…yeah, that's right. I know, but I already said…no, of course not…"

She must have suggested they meet on Tuesday. And John had pointed out he was busy then; as of course he was. He'd agreed to accompany Sherlock to interview the family of a recent victim. Lestrade had only allowed Sherlock to do it at all on the condition that he brought John. This irritated Sherlock, but he put up with it because he really needed that interview, and anyway he was used to having John with him. At least it was better than having one of the idiotic officers Scotland Yard employed to accompany him. So yes, John was most definitely busy on Tuesday.

"I'm sure it won't do…I'd love to, yeah. Seven?...I don't know, it's always hard to tell…haha yes, exactly! Okay…looking forward to it! Bye!"

There was the clear plastic thud of a phone being placed on a table, showing that the conversation was over. Sherlock considered what he had learned about Mary. Well, obviously she talked a lot. John had been sitting in silence for unusually long periods of time. She also seemed pretty determined to get what she wanted- in this case, a date on Tuesday. Sherlock tried to come up with plausible reasons why Tuesday would be the best day to meet. It was the middle of the week, there wasn't any reason why it would be a good day to meet up. Maybe she was just keen, but then why hadn't she chosen Monday? It was possible she was just busy, but that was unlikely because-

John, strolling out of the kitchen in the direction of his usual chair, interrupted Sherlock's thoughts. He hastily dropped his hands to his sides, then realised there was no way John wasn't going to see him and went for a nonchalant look, slowly turning his head as John came into view.

"Hello, John."

"Sherlock? What…have you been here the whole time?"

John's voice was demanding and angry, but Sherlock stayed irritatingly calm.

"It was necessary. I wanted to find out more about your date, with good reason as it turns out, considering what you just arranged."

"Have you even heard of privacy, Sherlock? It's something people are supposed to give other people when the other person is doing something private, like maybe talking to their girlfriend. Have you by any chance noticed a time recently where you really should have thought about that? No? Okay, though not."

"I was right to listen though John. If I hadn't, I might not have known that I need to find a new assistant for Tuesday."

"What? Sherlock, you weren't even listening properly! I told Mary I'm busy on Tuesday, she asked whether it was all day and I said no, because if you're making interviews starting at one in the afternoon last long enough to stop me going on a date in the evening then it's a good job I can't stay because you'd have all of them literally shaking in fear. Or crying. Or both…"

"No, John. I do have some understanding of interview techniques and I know that an interview of that length would not be beneficial to anyone involved. However, it was still unfair of you to agree to meet someone you barely know on a day when you are already busy. The interviewing may not be done until 4 and you then have to return to the flat, do the shopping and-"

"What makes you think I'm doing the shopping? Because I'm not, Sherlock."

"Well, obviously you are. I have to write up notes afterwards for Lestrade-boring, but they are insisting-"

"No Sherlock, I'm not. I'm going out, remember? I won't need food until Wednesday morning and I don't have to get that before I meet Mary, so if you want anything it's for you and you have to get it."

"But I can't-"

"Bloody Hell, Sherlock! You really don't understand. I can do what I want and you can't just expect me to do whatever it is you want me to do. I'm not your bloody dog!"

John got up and strode hastily from the flat. Sherlock, staring after him, realised if that if he wanted John to stay he was getting his tactics very, seriously wrong.

**I know it's a bit late...I'm sorry, I just had trouble getting it to work right. I'm still not sure it does, but I didn't want to leave it any longer to post it. This is definitely going to be more than four chapters now because I've changed from the plot I originally had (which also means it's not ending up where it looks like it's going to...hehe). Thank you all for reading/ favouriting/ alerting/ generally being amazing. Next chapter will be up…sometime. I'm not going to give a deadline because I might have trouble making it- *cringes and apologises- but it should be soon. **

**Sw.A.L. x**


	4. Chapter 4

Of course, John ended up accompanying Sherlock to the interviews. Sherlock hadn't really doubted that he would. Well, maybe he had just for a moment. Or a few moments. When he'd seen the expression on John's face as he'd hurried out of the flat two days ago, he had wondered when he would be seeing John again. The answer was actually just a few hours later, but the worry had been there throughout that entire, long morning. And it didn't quite disappear when John returned, either. Sherlock assumed they would gradually return to their version of normality, but it didn't seem to be happening. The atmosphere in the flat, usually relaxed and comfortable or, if Sherlock was on a case, charged and frantic, was tense and uncomfortable. John and Sherlock often didn't talk much when they were alone in the flat, but that was normally because they were comfortable with silence. Now, it was because they weren't sure what to say. Or at least, that was why Sherlock wasn't talking to John. John, with his increasingly long phone conversations and almost permanent wistful expression, just appeared to be unaware of the situation.

Which was odd, Sherlock thought as they exited the police station after finishing the interviews with no more trouble than would be expected, because John normally seemed more affected emotionally than he did. But now it was the other way round. Or it appeared to be. Since John was basically ignoring Sherlock, he was finding it difficult to deduce what it was John was feeling. It was obvious he cared for Mary, but he wasn't giving any more clues than that. For instance, Sherlock had no idea how John felt towards him at the moment. Angry? Disappointed? Upset? Or was he just unconcerned? Sherlock didn't know; one more thing that Mary had changed. John might disagree, but he thought they had been much better off without her. He decided to try for a bit of normality and travel back to 221B in a cab.

"Taxi?"

"What?"

"John, you can't be that stupid. What do you think we could want a taxi for? To return to Baker Street, obviously."

"O-oh. Um, I'm sorry Sherlock, but I'm meeting Mary here."

"What? Here? Why?"

"What was that you were saying about stupidity? Because, _obviously, _we wanted to meet as early as possible and me going all the way back to the flat and then out again isn't doing that."

There was an uncomfortable silence as John waited for Sherlock's reaction and Sherlock tried to decide which reaction he was going for.

Shrugging one shoulder, Sherlock continued forward towards the road. "Goodbye then John. Enjoy your 'date'."

Sherlock knew, from the fact that he hadn't heard John move, that John was watching him. He hoped he had managed to pull off 'untroubled and uncaring' as well as he normally did, but suspected he hadn't.

"Hey, Sherlock…you could stay for a bit. If you want. You could meet Mary?"

Sherlock stopped and spun round to face John. No, he didn't want. John was trying to be considerate and Sherlock appreciated that, sort of, but he was going about it the wrong way. Sherlock had no desire to stand around uncomfortably while John attempted to maintain a conversation between himself, Sherlock and Mary.

"No. I have no desire to meet your boring girlfriend."

"Mary's not 'boring', although you won't know that until you actually meet her."

Sherlock scoffed and returned mockingly, "Maybe not boring compared to the women who usually pass as your girlfriends, but that still leaves her a lot of room for boring-ness. And your standards aren't exactly high..."

"Hi, John! You look good…sorry I'm late, you haven't been here long have you? Oooh, and is this the flatmate you told me about? Sherlock, yes? Hi!"

Sherlock realised that John hadn't actually heard the last part of what he'd been saying, because a short, dark-haired woman had hugged him round the waist from behind and he was now focused on Sherlock even less than he had been before.

"Mary! Hi!" John turned gently round so he was facing her and took in her and her outfit. She was wearing black jeans, a decorative blue and white top and a simple pendant necklace. "You look great too! And yeah, this is Sherlock." He gave Sherlock a look, evidently wanting him to co-operate and act normal for once.

Sherlock nodded his head, just politely enough not to seem rude. "Sherlock Holmes." Greeting over, he proceeded to ignore Mary. "John, I believe-"

Mary interrupted him. "So, I've heard you're like a detective…but you don't work for the police. I don't get that…if you're good, why don't they hire you?"

Sherlock's attention was immediately regained. "Oh, they would. I don't want to be hired. I prefer working-" he glanced at John for a second "-alone." He turned to address John again, but stopped when Mary began to giggle irritatingly. "Was there a problem?"

"Oh-no, sorry."

"I believe there was; it is not unusual for people to mistrust my capabilities. However, I can-"

John took his turn to interrupt Sherlock. "Mary, if Sherlock wasn't good at what he does the police wouldn't hire him. I think we can leave it there, don't you Sherlock?"

Sherlock knew exactly what the message behind John's words was; 'there is no need to pull one of your over the top, analytical and sometimes frankly disturbing deductions, just carry on acting normal, yeah?' Unfortunately for John and also for Mary, Sherlock's 'normal' reserve had just run out. He was bored and fed up of obeying John, so he turned to face Mary and looked her up and down in the same way John had a few minutes ago, but for a completely different reason.

"You've recently ended a long relationship with a previous boyfriend, possibly you dumped him but more likely it was a mutual decision. You also suffer from regular colds…no, hayfever…you're very organized and like to be on time…oh, and you own a cat. Like me to go on or have I proven my abilities?"

"I…what…how did you…"

Sherlock smirked. "I'll explain, shall I?"

John almost growled in annoyance. "Sherlock…there's no need…"

He was completely blanked by the detective, who had started his explanation while John was still talking.

"Your hair is obviously dyed and the ends show that it has been very recently cut. It's possible that you just decided to go for a new hairstyle, but more likely you wanted to symbolize that you're leaving behind your old relationship. There is a tissue in the back pocket of your jeans, but when you reached for one just now you took it from your bag, showing that the one in your jeans was from a previous trip, quite a while ago judging from the creases in the legs of your jeans, so you regularly require tissues. Could be that you have a long-lasting cold, but as it is summer, today has a high pollen count and you held your eyes shut for a few seconds longer than necessary after you sneezed and continue to blink more than average, it is much more likely you suffer from hayfever.

The organization? Well, the tissues of course, and you've evidently spent a while on your appearance and still managed to arrive two minutes before the arranged meeting time, when you were concerned you were late. And, when you opened your bag I noticed that you carry a pocket calendar. That is also the thing that gave me information on your relationship; it has a signed message on the front showing that it is a gift from a man, almost certainly a previous boyfriend and he must have known you for a while if he felt able to give you that kind of gift. If you had ended on bad terms, you probably wouldn't still have the calendar, so it must have been a joint decision. The cat was obvious; you have cat hairs on your top from where you must have picked him up."

Mary just stood still staring at Sherlock for a moment, and then seemed to recover. "Chloe's a she."

"What?"

"Chloe. My cat. You called her 'him'."

Sherlock stared at her, incredulous. He had just given her detailed deductions about her life, and she was concerned about the gender of her cat? "Luckily, it is rarely necessary to identify the gender of an animal from simply looking at its hair."

John grinned at Sherlock's expression and Mary joined him when she realised how insignificant her comment had been and how much it had affected Sherlock. He stared at them as they tried not to laugh and decided it was time to leave. Starting towards the road again, he projected over his shoulder;

"Goodbye Mary. John, I will see you at the flat, whenever you manage to return."

Luckily for Sherlock's sense of a dramatic exit, he managed to hail a taxi within a minute of reaching the road. As it pulled away, he gazed back at John, expecting to exchange smiles or at least a nod of acknowledgement. This didn't happen, because John was completely occupied with the woman by his side. When John held out a hand to take Mary's, Sherlock turned away in disgust and glared intently at the road in front of the taxi, as though if he could increase the literal distance between him and John fast enough it maybe would have an effect on the metaphorical one.

**Hey! So, this is chapter 4. I'm really sorry it's taken so long to update, but you do get an extra-long chapter! Thank-you all for being amazing and for alerting, reviewing etc. (I think I might stop saying thanks at the end of each chapter now unless I get like an unusually large amount of attention for one chapter, so if you're reading this then thank-you for giving this a chance and for continuing past chapter 1, thanks X2 if you've alerted/favourited and thanks X3 if you reviewed...they really do make my day!) Chapter 5...is in progress, and will be up sometime in the next week or two.**

**Sw.A.L. x **


	5. Chapter 5

John came back after a few hours. Sherlock retreated to his bedroom the moment he heard the creak of the stair just before the landing. With all his intellect, he couldn't think of anything to say to John that wouldn't just make him angry. Instead, he lay down on the floor (better for hearing sounds and vibrations, and anyway who needs beds?) to listen.

The noise John was creating easily enabled Sherlock to track his movements. He pushed the door open slowly and then stopped for a few seconds. Looking for Sherlock? He wasn't going to find him there and, Sherlock assumed, didn't really want to. The footsteps moved into the kitchen and Sherlock could hear the running of a tap and the bubbling of a kettle; tea, obviously, since that was the hot drink John made most often, especially after about midday. After a few minutes, the muffled thumping sound made by John walking across the carpet started again, followed by the soft noise of John settling into an armchair.

When, after five minutes, Sherlock realised that John had no intention of moving anywhere else, he began to get bored. Very bored. In his defence, it wasn't exactly the most exciting situation he could be in. He hadn't even brought his violin with him- not that it would have mattered if he had, because the whole point of staying in his room was that John wasn't aware of him. He supposed he could just go to bed, but he wasn't really tired, and if John was staying up so was he.

The situation became a waiting game, with only one competitor aware that they were playing. John, oblivious, forced Sherlock to lie there for over an hour before getting up, rinsing his mug, leaving it by the sink, and going to bed.

Once the flat was as silent as it got, Sherlock went to his Mind Palace to analyse the sounds he had heard over the last hour and a bit. What he was trying to do, he was forced to admit, was read into them some sign that John was upset or worried. Actually, even anger would have been good. After 10 minutes, Sherlock admitted that none of them had been audible, got up from his un-comfy position on the floor (fine, he admitted it, the bed was better) and tried to shut his mind down.

Next morning, Sherlock managed to stay in his room until lunchtime, when he was forced to leave it because he was bored, thirsty, hungry, and needed the loo. Unfortunately, the first three of these were found in the same place as John. Well, maybe it was an opportunity to persuade John that he couldn't be in a long-term relationship, particularly not with that irritating woman Mary.

Again, John was the first to break the uncomfortable silence that was now so common between them.

"The date went really well, thanks for asking." Sherlock snapped his head round to face John.

"I didn't ask because it doesn't matter. No doubt you liked her, but she won't like you after she realises you can't commit to her."

"Really?" If John's tone had been cold, it had now dropped below freezing point. "Why can't I commit, Sherlock? I don't see any reason why I can't have a proper relationship. Maybe one that doesn't involve you."

"The failure of your relationships is not my fault. It is something that happens, though, and 'Mary' is unlikely to be an exception."

John gave Sherlock one of the hardest glares he had ever experienced, and he had experienced a lot of them.

"Fine. You carry on thinking that. Carry on acting like every woman I date is exactly the same, and the same thing is going to happen every time. 'Cos it's not, Sherlock. People move on in life. Including me…but not you, apparently. That's fine though. You can just sit around here waiting for a new case until you realise I've got a girlfriend, and she's staying."

Sherlock didn't reply, caught in a mental battle with John. The tension in the room was incredible, but neither man wanted to break it by leaving. In the end, they just went back to what they had been doing before; Sherlock leaning over the table, continuing yet another obscure experiment, and John updating some files for work.

That hadn't exactly gone brilliantly, Sherlock mused. Now John was annoyed with him, again. It seemed like trying to persuade John that him and Mary wouldn't work...well, it wasn't working. A new method was needed, then. In the many hours spent in his room earlier not sleeping, Sherlock had come up with an alternative strategy; 'don't mention Mary'. Don't talk about her and don't bring her up. Not only was this good for Sherlock (he wouldn't have to contribute to pointless conversations about her that ended with John getting angry), it should also give him an opportunity to find out more. John would probably tell Sherlock all about Mary, his 'incredible girlfriend', without Sherlock responding, except maybe 'mmm'-ing, if it was necessary.

And of course, although he wasn't actually sure it was likely, maybe John and Mary would just split up after a few more dates. It was irritating that she seemed to like Sherlock; most of John's previous girlfriends hated being anywhere near him, which was nice for Sherlock and also helped the eventual break-up along.

So that was decided. He would just leave John and Mary to it. Oh, wait, that sounded like he intended to give up. He wasn't giving up. He was just letting things progress for now, while he analysed and collected information and tried to find a more effective way to persuade one or both of them that they didn't want to be in the relationship. Or…he could just let John have his little relationship. He was almost tempted. It seemed to make John happy, and it would certainly save Sherlock the trouble of sabotaging things. He could do it. He could just leave John alone, like John obviously wanted.

He let himself relax sligtly. Fine. It couldn't do too much harm to let John be for a while. It would allow him to strengthen the relationship, but John already seemed pretty dedicated to it, and Sherlock was sure he could still break them up if he wanted to. Although, even if he wasn't sabotaging anything at the moment, it wouldn't do any harm to plan. So, that's what he would do; wait, but prepare to take action. Just in case. In case Sherlock decided that John's relationship with Mary was affecting his relationship with Sherlock, and Sherlock's relationship with work, too much to be allowed to continue.

**Hey! Sorry it took so long (again), but here's chapter 5. I can't think of much else to say, so I'm not going to annoy you all by doing a really long A/N...I hope you're liking it, and I'm intending to get the next chapter up in the next two weeks. Thanks,**

**Sw.A.L. x**


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